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Coaching could tip Habs-Lightning in Tampa's favour

The most goals in one playoff season in the salary cap era. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had 15 goals in 24 games when the Penguins won the Cup in 2009. Tied for second for the most goals in one spring with 14 are Fernando Pisani of the Edmonton Oilers in 2006 and Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators in 2007.

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The Early Word: The Lightning took the season series in which the Habs scored only one goal in each of the games (the Canadiens’ lone win came in a 2-1 shootout victory). This could come down to the Habs being disciplined and being able to control Tampa’s Steven Stamkos and the Bolts’ power play (the Canadiens have the fifth-ranked penalty kill this season). Tampa scored 16 power-play goals in their final 17 games. There are questions about the health of Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop, Tampa’s most valuable player, and even if he’s available for Game 1 you have to wonder if he’s going to be at the top of his game. The Canadiens got their even-strength scoring going down the stretch and goaltender Carey Price looks like the pivotal figure in this series.

RECORDS:

Tampa Bay Lightning 46-27-9

Montreal Canadiens 46-28-8

2014 season series: Tampa, 3-1.

Playoffs: Tampa, 1-0 (one series all-time).

MONTREAL

STRENGTHS: The addition of winger Thomas Vanek at the trade deadline gave the Habs a bonafide offensive threat and a legitimate first line for the first time in a long time. The team’s 5-on-5 scoring, a long-time weakness, has improved since his arrival. Goaltender Carey Price, with the experience of helping Canada win gold in Sochi, can be as good as there is and he’s capable of swinging the series in the Habs’ favour on his own.

WEAKNESSES: The Canadiens’ power play, which has been one of the club’s strengths the last few years, took a plunge down the stretch, finishing the season in an 0-for-23 funk. While the even-strength scoring has had an uptick, you have to think the Habs are going to need to score with the man advantage to have a chance of winning this series. The Habs have been consistently outshot this season.

INTANGIBLES: The Canadiens lost their cool and the series against the Ottawa Senators in the opening round last year. Coach Michel Therrien and his players got flustered against Ottawa and that was a big reason why the Canadiens lost in five games. It will be interesting to see if the Canadiens learned from that experience and stay away from the stupid stuff if Tampa tries to push their buttons.

TAMPA

STRENGTHS: Despite not having superstar Steven Stamkos for half the season, the Lightning still managed to finish ninth in the NHL in scoring with an average of 2.83 goals per game. A big part of that was the emergence of rookies Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson, who are both candidates for rookie of the year honours and are strong two-way players despite their youth. The Lightning are fast.

WEAKNESSES: The Lightning penalty killing was ranked just 23rd in the league this season at 80.7%, but that might not be much of an issue if the Montreal power play continues to struggle the way it has over the last part of the regular season. The goaltending – whether it’s Ben Bishop or Anders Lindback – is unproven in the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see how they stand up.

INTANGIBLES: Lightning coach Jon Cooper is a candidate for coach of the year honours. He managed to keep his club competitive despite the loss of Stamkos to the broken leg and the drama around captain Martin St. Louis, who wanted to be traded and finally got his wish. Cooper has that knack for being able to get the most out of his club and is the early favourite to win this matchup of coaching wits.

POSSIBLE HEROES:

Montreal: Max Pacioretty. The Canadiens’ winger led the club with 39 goals and isn’t afraid to speak up when he thinks his team isn’t doing things the way it should.

Tampa: Steven Stamkos. The Lightning captain wound up with 25 goals in 37 games after missing half the season with that broken leg. He makes the Tampa power play go.